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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 1d

I spotted L'Oaf in the wild for the first time yesterday! Always a magical moment when an idea I've worked on for years is suddenly an actual thing people can buy and play. Goblin Laundromat and Medievallons are awesome games as well, definitely worth checking out at Wulfhorn Games' Essen booth!

Picture of my game L'Oaf for sale in my FLGS.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 1d

Excited that the news is finally out on Rattlesnake. I got to playtest it a couple of times with Michael during its development, it's a tense 1vs1 shootout with exceptional art by @rolandsrevenge.bsky.social. Definitely worth checking out at Essen!

Osprey Games ➡️ Essen SPIEL 3.M600 @ospreygames.bsky.social · 1d

📢📢 NEW BOARD GAMES IN 2026...

Threaded 🧵 a crafty worker placement game: https://bit.ly/4nOJ9iz

Rattlesnake 🤠 a riotous wild west shootout: https://bit.ly/3J8NKwH

Find out more on @boardgamegeek.com or our website blog. Get an exclusive preview at SPIEL Essen Stand 3.M600!

The cover art of the board game Threaded: A Game of Needles and Points, designed by Ellie Dix and illustrated by Maria Surducan, depicting a bargello pattern in blue, pink, yellow and green thread, above a selection of needlecraft tools.

The cover art of the board game Rattle Snake, designed by Michael Hardacre and illustrated by Roland MacDonald, depicting a woman in a cowboy outfit leaping backwards through the air and firing a revolver in each hand.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 1d

Awesome! Hope your friends can help you get one. If not, don't hesitate to reach out, I'd gladly help you get a copy.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 1d

I'll be at the Wulfhorn Games booth on Saturday and Sunday by the way, would love to show you the game personally

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Reposted by Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025

Semi Co-op @semicoop.bsky.social · 1d

New comic! Every year, we tell ourselves we're going to SPIEL just to “see friends.” Every year, our suitcase says otherwise. 😅

What board games are you most excited to check out at #SPIEL this year? 🎲

You can read this week's blog post at semicoop.com/comic/be-honest/ #boardgames

Comic based on the “Be honest / Thank you” David Beckham meme.

Panel 1: Rachel: “I’m not *that* excited about getting more games at Spiel.” Heinze peeks in from behind a wall and says, “Be honest.”

Panel 2: Rachel looks defensive and says: “No really, I just want to see friends and hear how they’re doing!” Heinze, still peeking, repeats: “Be honest.”

Panel 3: Rachel looks flustered and blurts out a long list of board games: “I just want: We’re Sinking, Bohemians, Tag Team, Pinched, 3 Witches, Tea Witches, Leaders, and… Dino Dynasty, Deckers, Luthier, Timber Town, SETI Space Agencies, Wolf Street, Severton, L’Oaf, Line of Fire: Burnt Moon, and…” Heinze, now satisfied, says, “Thank you.”

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 1d

L'Oaf it!

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 1d

1. Broccoli, because eating a little tree means a big tree will grow in your tummy and I'm not having any of that.

2. Any HP film for obvious reasons.

3. I'm Yours by Jason Mraz was everywhere during my formative years of music taste and it still represents everything I dislike.

Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 5d

Reminds me that my granddad made me believe that Lago di Caldenazo was the Lake of the Cold Noses. I was way too old when I figured out it was just one of his jokes

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 8d

Het voordeel van minder zoetigheid eten is dat je hartstikke gezond bezig bent dus dan mag je best af en toe wat zoetigheid eten

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 8d

Well that's just surreal.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 10d

Pagan Vaporpop Punkhop is sooo August 2025, Creole Dronewave Fiddlejazz is where it's at

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

Oh that's a shame! Depending on what time I leave home I might be there friday end of the afternoon, will let you know if that's the case.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

Thank you, that means a lot! L’Oaf is a different type of design, so I'm hoping it will receive a similar positive response. I'll be at Essen the saturday and sunday, would love to meet you there!

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

Unfortunately, as they tried to leave the cave, they discovered it had caved in due to the heavy battle. Next time we play, they'll have to find their way out.

Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

In the end, they managed to slay the dragon with only a few casualties (though they were easily revived with a help action), and there were cheers all around. It was such an awesome (and somewhat choatic) experience, and almost all kids were excited to play it again.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

It was great to see the cooperation and tactics that occured. Some kids dedicated themselves to helping others, others rushed forward to deal the most damage. There were kids calling for help when they were low on health, and there was a big push from everyone when the dragon was almost down

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

On the kids turn (they all performed their turn simultaneously), they could move to an adjacent spot, and then either attack the dragon or heal another kid. To attack they would roll their one die, and if they were close to the dragon they could reroll once and use the highest roll.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

The classroom was our battle map, with each group of tables being a spot the kids could move to. The dragon would randomly attack 2-3 spots on its turn, with spots closer to the dragon receiving more damage.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

The kids had to slay a dragon threatening their city, who was sleeping in a nearby cave. Each kid chose 1 of 4 characters (wizard/knight/ranger/paladin), with a health stat, an attack die (d6, d8, d10 or d12), and a help ability (heal another player).

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

Today I GM'ed a simplified TTRPG for my twenty 4th and 5th graders (between 7 and 9 years old). This week is the Dutch "Week of the Children's Book", and the theme is "full of adventure". So naturally I decided to design a simple adventure game we could play in class. It was an absolute blast!

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 11d

Yes! I love this style of design, and how it informs play. I feel the decision space is both clearer and deeper if you have six paths that all influence a core mechanism, than if you have the same six paths which at the end of the game give you X points each and that's it.

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 12d

🎲✂️ Exactly five years ago, I playtested a very first version of what was going to be Soap Box Race. This might be the longest I've worked on one design, though much of that time I spent going around in circles because I was a novice designer. What's the design you've been working on longest?

First Paper and pencil prototype of my board game design Soap Box Race

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 13d

This sounds awesome. I love the hero/villain idea, can't wait to try it!

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 13d

Sounds like the beginning of an origin story already!

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Bart de Jong 🔜 Spiel 2025 @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 13d

Damn Scandinavians have been teaching us how to follow language independent instructions ever since we were kids

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